Tom Perez, candidate for DNC Chair, announced today that he would create an in-house Chief Cybersecurity Officer with a robustly staffed, fully funded team to protect the DNC from future attacks.

“The cyber attacks on the DNC must never happen again,” said Tom Perez. “In order to prevent future hacks, we must close the front door and all 57 windows in order to ensure that our data is protected and that all bad actors - including but not limited to foreign governments - are kept out of the DNC. It becomes clearer with each passing day that these attacks were undertaken for the express purpose of influencing our elections.

“The threats to the DNC and to our country are real and must be taken seriously. We have too much to lose and that’s why it’s more critical than ever that we put systems in place to fiercely protect ourselves and our state parties from those who want to influence future elections.”

Perez believes that the security of the DNC must be a top priority for the next chair and all Democrats. That is why it is critical that we have a Chief Cybersecurity Officer who reports directly to the chair of the DNC and is able to proactively monitor and replace outdated technology in order to prevent future attacks at the DNC.

The Cybersecurity team would also have the responsibility of working with all 50 states and territories to make sure they have secured networks and systems in place to protect their data. These investments are long overdue and are critical for the long-term success of the party.